Ah, sunny Southern California in November. Sounds nice doesn’t it? In fact, it has been so sunny and warm that there have been about 8 days of record-breaking high temperatures over the last couple of weeks. Boy, it sure is going to be hard to come back to Chicago.

So, back to southern California. I am in Newport Beach, among the filthy rich, where every other car on the road is a shiny, late model Mercedes, Lexus, BMW or anything non-American. Can I just say that I stick out like a sore thumb driving around in my Saturn rental. And yes, you guessed it, it is a godawful bright red. Really though, this is the least of my concerns.

Orange County is like it’s own little world. Surfers filling the shores in droves looking more like sharks collecting than athletes. No kidding, when I first saw them off the Huntington Beach pier I thought they were sharks. I’ll admit, I’ve had no exposure to the whole surfing culture so I don’t really get it. But it just didn’t look all that fun, people packed in next to one another, catching some “really gnarly dude” 2 – 3 foot waves. In a word, yawn. When I think of surfing, I’m imagining waves that are 10 or 12 feet high…ones that you can ride for 20 or 30 rather than 5 seconds. It’s like the bunny hill compared to the black diamond.

Driving in southern California is interesting. At one point near Irvine, the I-5 spreads out to 8 lanes one way. That is mind boggling considering that there are exits every mile or so. Imagine having to get out of the carpool lane (lane 8) and moving all the way over to the exit lane in the space of a mile. Interesting. Also interesting is the fact that people pass quite often on the right which was a bit disarming the first time it happened. Then you realize you really need to pay attention because anything can happen at any moment. My favorite thing of all though is the fact that traffic comes to a complete stop on I-5 at a couple of places between San Diego and Orange County for no apparent reason. It’s like everyone driving is high and after they come to a complete stop their ability to comprehend that traffic is moving again is impaired and therefore it takes them about 5 car lengths before they realize the car in front of them has moved. Wow, I can just go on about some of the most useless things, can’t I?

Now, to the beaches. Nice. Really nice. One of my favorites is Crystal Cove, a bit south of Newport on Hwy. 1. It is a perfect running beach as it is about 3.5 miles long and flat and wide. So you can run to your hearts content and feel away from everything, including the roadway which runs a bit back from the bluff above you. You hear nothing but the waves and smell nothing but the sea air. The other beaches, Newport (Balboa Peninsula) and north to Huntington Beach are ok but quite banked along the shore so it is difficult for running unless you like running sideways on an incline. A paved, shared path for pedestrians, runners and bikes runs along the homes that line Newport beach for folks who like that sort of thing. My favorite beach for a sunset is at Corona Del Mar, a little town along the coast just south of Newport. It is a small beach with a tall bluff and a nice walkway along the top with benches and beautiful views.

I also had an excellent adventure at Crystal Cove across the street from the beach. There are several hiking trails that climb the hills overlooking the ocean that you can walk, run (if you like hills a lot) or bike. It is a nice place to spend a few hours and the views of the ocean are great. When I first arrived, I went into the ranger headquarters to buy my parking pass and ask about the trails. The ranger I spoke to explained the main trails and gave me a map and then looked me in the face and said “and remember, we close at dusk and you really wouldn’t want to be out there after that, would you”. As if surely I knew that there were so many things that could kill me out there that I wouldn’t want to risk it. I said yes, I understood that and proceeded to the start of the hike. I read the signs and the first one I saw had a nice big picture of a rattlesnake on it. OK…I thought, so I’ll just walk in the middle of the path. No problem.

As I walked along religiously looking for snakes on the path, I crossed paths with 2 other single hikers and 2 or 3 pairs of mountain bikers. I thought it was interesting that more people weren’t hiking but that was fine with me because it really felt like I had the place to myself (something I really wanted). Long story short, I passed by one section where I could hear something big moving around just off the path. It sounded like it was scraping the ground to make a bed for itself. I stopped dead in my tracks and wondered what to do next. I looked, listened and the animal just kept doing what it was doing without interruption. I decided to continue walking and that was that. The funny thing was that when I finished the walk, I went back to the ranger station to see what kind of animals inhabit the area. Mountain lions and bobcats. Hmmm…I guess I missed that sign when I started the hike. Anyway, I feel pretty lucky not to have been eaten alive as the sign that said that both were inhabitants also said that hikers should always hike in pairs. Then I met a cyclist who said that not too long ago they found a bike and the body of the biker a little ways off, ravaged by a Mountain Lion.

I’m staying in a corporate apartment near UC-Irvine, which is part of this huge development owned by the Irvine Ranch Land Company. Apparently, they own miles and miles of land there and as a result, every development looks virtually the same. It is a land of gated communities (OK…so I was pissed off because my garage door opener did not open the gate very reliably) but I think it might have recognized the car and decided they needed to keep my kind out! Do you know what else comes with gated communities? Workout facilities where everyone and their mother works out because it is winter now and to run outside would “mess up my hair”. Oh, and one final thing, there are more shopping malls (large and corner) than in Omaha.

My personal favorite thing about Orange County are the ladies who “exercise” along the beach, decked out in flowing, white clothing complete with gloves, wide-brimmed hats, and sunglasses that would make Elton John in the 70’s envious.

A good place to visit…but I sure wouldn’t want to live there.

Happy Trails,
Vic